Generally, software vendors deliver licensed software either on a compact disk or by a download over the Internet. To ensure that the software and the associated software license are authenticate, the software vendor in many situations requires the customer to enter a vendor-provided e-signature, also referred to herein as a digital signature, into the customer's computer. The vendor, in some situations, may provide the digital signature over the telephone, which requires a less lengthy digital signature to be used. The vendor-delivered digital signature is then compared to a digital signature created at the customer's computer. If the digital signatures match, the software license is valid and the customer can begin to use the software. The digital signatures are generally created with the same or similar information but are created separately at the vendor and the customer. The customer created digital signature uses similar mathematical or other functions as the vendor that created the signature, that is, the customer's computer mimics the operations at the vendor used to create the digital signature. In some environments, it may be preferred to authenticate the license without comparing separately-created digital signatures, such as when less lengthy digital signature are used.